FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of stable oil in water emulsions which comprises (a) mixing an oil with effective emulsifying concentration of a silicone based phosphate ester (b) subsequently adding water and in a final step (c) homogenizing the resulting mixture to obtain an surprisingly stable emulsion which does not contain any fatty surfactants.
The process of the present invention is made possible by using certain compounds of which are prepared by the phosphation of a pendant hydroxyl group which is present on a silicone polymer and which contains at least three moles of ethylene oxide in the molecule. In a preferred embodiment the process is conducted using a silicone based phosphate ester which is based upon a hydroxy containing silicone polymer that has been alkoxylated with ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide. The ability to regulate the type of alkylene oxide and amount present in the silicone polymer results in a series of products ranging widely in water/oil solubility. The technology used to produce the compounds of the present invention is very flexible and allows us to prepare performance tailored molecules for specific applications.